The End of Time (Milfcraft)
Author: Heron
Pairing: Birdbottle, Herpes
It had been raining for a few days. Heron’s electrical charge had been more volatile with the amount of static in the air. He had to be more careful when holding conductive objects. He hadn’t seen Hapless since the morning, he wasn’t sure where she had gone. Hapless often visited the village, so he assumed she would be there. He missed them and hoped they would come back soon.
The boom of thunder had echoed through the castle walls for hours now. Vomit Syringe was crying loudly for their mother. Heron hoped Hapless would arrive soon to soothe Vomit. He nearly felt a pang of longing for Glass and sympathy for Vomit. But he pushed the thought aside. Glass had chosen her life, the rest of them would have to deal with it.
There wasn’t much to do, it was a little after noon and he had already finished responding to all the letters, granting land permits, and choosing new artists to be sponsored in Karkali. No one had come to the castle, it was raining after all.
He drifted through the kitchens, the indoor gardens, the ballroom, the west and east wing, he had been everywhere in the castle besides the astronomy tower. It was his last place to visit for the afternoon. Heron hoped the storm would let up so he could go to the village, he was hoping to visit Cato for some tea. Anything to get his mind off of everything.
In truth, he was beginning to feel unstable. He recoiled at the touch of Hapless, shut himself in his room when they were home, he had done everything to avoid them the past few weeks. He wasn’t sure what was up and what was down. He wasn’t sure what to think about anything.
He sat at the desk in his study, staring dimly at the clock. The letters he hadn’t started sat in a neat stack on the desk.
“I was thinking of putting red dahlias in the vase in the front room, what do you think, dear?” Hapless said. Her words missed Heron entirely. He remained fixed, staring at the clock. Seven.
He blinked and furrowed his eyebrows at the gold clock. It couldn’t possibly be seven.
The minute hand moved, the vibrations nearly reached him. “Heron?” Hapless asked softly, noticing the change in her husband's face. Heron looked like he had seen a ghost.
“Did you just wake me up? Had I fallen asleep?”
Hapless looked at him curiously. “No? I’ve been with you all day.”
“I don’t..” Heron swallowed thickly as he trailed off. He ran a hand through his blond locks. “When did it get so late?” He turned his gaze to the window. It was sunny, not a cloud in the sky.
“It’s not that late. We haven’t had dinner yet.”
Hapless’s smile was nagging at him. Their cold eyes but bright smile, their white teeth that nearly looked pointed. When had they turned into someone Heron didn’t recognize? They felt like a stranger in his room. A snake slithering by. A dagger pointed right at his back.
A deep panic pulled him. It was seven. He was in his study. He hadn’t been walking around the castle. He hadn’t finished his work. It was seven in the evening. It was seven in the evening. It was seven in the evening. It was seven-
“Heron, are you okay?”
Heron’s eyes unfocused. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.
“Heron?” Hapless shook him gently.
“What did we do today?” Heron replied softly, as if hoping that Hapless’s answer would spark some memory of the day's events.
“We went to Alien and Omar’s house for lunch. Then we walked around the city with Vomit.”
A strand of hair fell in his face, he tightened his grip on the edge of the desk, desperately searching for memories.
He wanted Hapless to leave. He wanted them to go far away. He wanted them to leave like Glass had left.
“Someone’s here to see you.”
A stack of unopened letters. Dark shadows through the window. A crack of thunder. Ten in the evening.
Heron let in a deep gasp and pushed himself away from the desk. He let in a heavy breath. His head was screaming in pain. Where was he again?
“Heron?” Bananba asked weakly.
He froze. In between the desk and Hapless was Bananba.
“No..”
“Heron,” Bananba repeated.
“No! You can’t be here! Hapless take them away right now! Take my brother away!” Heron shouted, his heart thrumming so loudly he thought it might jump out of his chest. Why was everything so loud?
Crack. The thunder made him jolt.
“But you asked for them, Heron,” Hapless replied.
“No, no, no I didn’t. Bananba is.. they’re a traitor.”
Bananba watched his brother shake and tremble. His eyes were wild, full of hatred and panic. What had Hapless done to him? Pinkish veins curled up his arms like spider webs. His eyes were slowly turning a yellow glow.
“Don’t you want to see what happened to your brother? What you did to them?”
Hapless pushed Bananba towards him. When they got closer, they could feel the energy around him. It was cold, like a snowstorm and heavy wind.
Hapless stalked closer to them and pointed to Bananba’s limp leg. “You did that to them.”
“I didn’t do that..”
Hapless nodded and walked closer to Heron. “Yes you did, my love. You nearly killed them. It’s all your fault.”
“No!” Heron shouted. Lightning struck just outside the window.
“Yes. You did this to them. You did the same to Glass.”
“GET OUT!” Heron shouted with so much ferocity the walls shook. His eyes grew brighter.
“You did this to them! You did this to Glass! You betrayed your wife!” Hapless shouted back. There was a high pitched hum coming from Heron. Papers from the desk began flying around him in a disorganized circle, creating a shield.
“NO!” Heron repeated, the ground began to vibrate and he rose a few inches from the floor.
“Stop this Hapless! You’re going to hurt him!” Bananba pleaded with Hapless as a bright ring of light formed around Heron.
“You can’t stop this. This is what was always meant to happen,” Hapless laughed in Bananba’s face and watched proudly as Heron lost his mind.
Hapless turned his attention back to Heron. “You did this all to them! You exiled Glass, you betrayed them. You left your child without a mother. You destroyed your brother’s ability to walk correctly. You hurt everyone. You will only keep hurting everyone.”
Heron didn’t respond, the energy only increased and Hapless felt the telltale sign of a strike about to land from Heron. They jumped out of the way before a large bolt of lightning hit the spot they were standing in.
“You may have done it but there’s a way you can turn it off, Heron,” Hapless said with sincerity and calmness. They hoped it hadn’t been too much for him.
Heron looked at them and tilted his head.
“Erase it. Erase your memories of Glass and what you did to them. You won’t have to hurt anymore.”
“No! Don’t do it, Heron!” Bananba screamed. Hapless pushed them to the ground roughly.
“Just let go Heron, I know you know how to do it. Just think of everything you did to them and put it in a box in your mind. You know what to do from there.”
Heron reacted without thinking. He placed all the hurt, all the betrayal, all the regret in one portion of his mind. He closed his eyes and pushed the energy to his fingertips, feeling each surge move from his veins.
Hapless thought he looked like a tamed animal. There would always be wildness in its eyes, but it would obey its master.
The guards pushed Glass through the door. She had heard everything. She nearly cried at the sight of him, just at the sound of his voice.
Hapless flashed Glass a wicked smile.
“I won.”
There was silence before the thunder, and after came the lightning. There wasn’t any noise in the room, Glass let out a scream that was not heard. Time seemed to stop as the first lightning strike pulled itself from Heron’s hands. The room lit up, objects in the room, chairs and the desk floated upwards.
The lightning curled itself around Heron’s floating body and he let out a strangled cry as it attacked his memories and integrated itself back into his veins, lightning them up brightly.
“Do you think you made the right choice?” Glass asked. She was sitting in the field behind Prof’s castle. They were sitting under the old apple tree. Just like they were children. Before life had gotten terribly messy. When life was easy and they were free.
“No,” Heron sighed and leaned against the tree trunk. In the distance, the world was becoming grey. They would only have a few more moments together.
“Then why did you go through with it? Why did you have to forget me?” Glass rested their head on Heron’s chest and placed an arm on his shoulder.
“It hurt too much. Hapless was going to win regardless.”
Glass stared out at their crumbling world.
“Do you think I’m weak?” Heron asked.
“No.”
“Okay.”
It reached the outskirts of the field.
“Do you think we’ll remember each other again?” Glass asked and tightened her grip around Heron.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m not sure this is the end. But if I go for good, remember that I love you and I’m sorry.”
“I love you too.”
Heron and Glass watched the grey take over the field. Heron twirled Glass’s black hair in their hand and wished things could have been different.
Heron woke up in his bed, next to Hapless. The sun was shining brightly through their window. He smiled and placed a small kiss on their forehead. It was always nice to see his wife first thing in the morning.
It was a lovely day outside it seemed. He looked at the clock above their door, then to the bedside table.
A red apple sat quaintly on the wooden table. Heron tried to remember where it had come from, but drew a blank.
•••
